The Greedy Fisherman

Once there was a man, Sai. He used to stay on the coast of kerela. He used to earn his living by fishing. He had a wife and two children. In the morning he would go fishing and come back by early evening. Then he would take the fish to the market nearby to sell it. At night Sai and his wife would eat the food with their two children.

The coast where Sai fished was full of fishes of various colours. Fishes also attracted other people from the city to the shore. Sai's wife was able to make extra money by selling coconuts to these tourists. They earned just enough to eat and clothes themselves properly. They led a simple but healthy and happy life.

"Sai," a voice called him one day. Sai looked in the direction of the voice and was overjoyed to see his childhood friends, Vikram. Vikram worked in the city in Cochin as a petty shopkeeper. They hugged each other and sat down to talk. Vikarm told him how he had earned a lot of money in cochin and now he had come to the village to get their hut converted into a nice-looking and modern house.

Slowly the house construction started. As the house took shape, somewhere in Sai's heart he felt a little jealousy rising day by day. He also started wishing for a similar house. But he didn't have the money for it. So he started thinking of ways to earn money.

He decided to rent a commercial trawler for fishing. He could catch much more fish with the trawler than with his old boat and antiquated fishing net. The next day he rented out the trawler and started fishing long hours. Slowly he began to collect more and more money by selling the fish. He became happier and happier as he saved more money for the house.

However, as he fished more intensively, it took a toll on the fish population on the coast. Slowly the fish population started decreasing in the nearby areas. He had to go further and further to catch the fish. He started comming back home later and later. He started eating his dinner very late and sometimes he would be too tired to eat properly. His health started deteriorating.

As the fish population decreased a lot, he was able to catch less and less fish. Also the number of tourists decreased and therefore the sale of coconuts. So their family earning started falling. He became more and more worried about his earnings in the long run. He realized his reckless fishing had led to a decrease in the fish population, which threatened his long-term livelihood. He also felt that though he had less money earlier, he and his family were happier and healthier. Thus, he decided that he would go back to fishing the old way.

He gave up the trawler. He started fishing with his old boat and net. The fish population slowly returned to normal. With the fish the tourist also returned and they started earning as much as before. And he started leading a simple and happy life again.